Door lock



Aug. 16, 1960 R. SHOALTS DOOR LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1, 1957 llullIUTl'l w 8 m Mm M M 5 5 L. M d f M 2a m Y R B 5 m A F an L W v mil m 555s. lla- DOOR LOCK Richard L. Shoalts, 3'47 Hastings St., South Williamsport, Pa.

Filed Mar. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 643,347

6 Claims. (Cl. 292-4363) The present invention generally relates to a door lock, and more specifically provides a lock associated with the usual door knobs and lock operating shaft and represents an improvement over my co-pending application for Door Lock, Serial No. 460,307, filed October 5, 1954, now Patent No. 2,788,996, issued April 16, 1957.

An object of the present invention is to provide a door lock which is especially useful in bathrooms, rest rooms, bedrooms or other doors on which it is desirable to automatically lock the door upon closing thereof when force is exerted inwardly on the inside knob and still permitting the door to be opened by the usual twisting of the inside knob thus preventing unauthorized entry while the door is locked.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a door lock in accordance with the preceding object in which a structure is provided which will permit the unlocking of the door lock from the outside of the door with such unlocking being manually operated which will permit the outside knob to be rendered operative inasmuch as the locking action renders the outside knob inoperative until such time as it is manually released by either twisting the inside knob or manually releasing a catch mechanism on the outside of the door.

7 Another important object of the present invention is to provide a door lock adapted for use with various types of doors in which a pulling force is exerted on the inside knob for closing the door, or on which a pushing force is exerted on the inside knob for closing the door.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a door lock incorporating an electric switch therein so that when the door is locked, an electric circuit will be automatically completed for automatically starting an exhaust fan in the enclosure or room thus automatically starting the exhaust fan when the closure door for the room is closed.

Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide a door lock that is relatively simple in construction, easy to use, easy to install, efiicient in operation, safe, foolproof, requires very little modification of existing door hardware and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along the longitudinal center line of one form of the door lock ofthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of Figure 1, illustrating the details of construction of the manually operated latch mechanism, and the spring for urgin the shaft longitudinally;

..Figure .3 is a perspective viewof the manual latch;

2,949,329 talented Aug. 16, 1960 ice Figure 4 is a perspective view of the spring member;

Figure 5 is a sectional View similar to Figure 2 illustrating a modified form of the invention in which relatively movable contact members are provided for closing and opening an electrical circuit upon locking and unlocking of the door lock;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional view similar to Figure 1 illustrating a modified form of the door lock;

Figure 7 is a partial sectional view similar to Figure 6 illustrating the construction arranged in such a manner that pushing force is employed in closing the door anda locking the lock;

Figure 8 is an exploded group perspective View illus-- trating certain elements of the lock construction; and

Figure 9 is a perspective View illustrating the construc tion of the lock member mounted rigid with the outside knob.

Referring now specifically to Figures 1-4, the numeral 10 generally designates the lock construction of this form. of the present invention. The door lock 10 generally in cludes a pair of hollow facing plates 12 and 14 mounted. on the inside and outside of a door 16, respectively, and covering a transverse passage 18 in the door 16 wherein the passage 18 is generally elongated 'and is in communication with the retractible latch mechanism 20 which is not shown in detail inasmuch as any suitable latch may be employed with the lock of the present invention.

An elongated operating shaft generally designated by numeral 22 is disposed in the transverse passage 18. The operating shaft 22 includes a square or polygonal part 24 and a cylindrical part 26 in longitudinal alignment therewith. The square portion 24 has the inside knob 30 secured thereto as by a set screw 32 which engages one of the flats 31 of the polygonal part 24 which is provided with the usual threads 34 on the corners thereof. The dome shaped cover plate 12 is provided with an outwardly extending circularor cylindrical flange 36 rotatably receiving the inner end of a projecting portion 38 on the knob 30. A washer 40 is disposed on the square portion 24 of the shaft 22 inwardly of the dome shaped plate 12 and the washer 40 includes spring urged gripping fingers 42 resiliently gripping the square portion 24 of the shaft 22 thus retaining the washer in spaced relation to the inner end of the projection 38 thus permitting sliding movement of the square portion 24 of the shaft 22 in relation to the face plate 12 between the limits of the washer 40 and the inner surface of the projection 38 on the knob 30. Such sliding movement and also the rotational movement of the knob 30 will be guided by the flange 36 on the facing plate 12.

The outside knob is designated by numeral 44 and includes the inwardly extending cylindrical projection 46 received in an outwardly extending flange 48 on the face plate 14. The face plate 14- abuttingly engages the outer surface of a circular mounting plate 50 having outwardly extending projections 52 orientating the face plate 14 thereon.

The mounting plate 50 is provided with a pair of radially aligned loops '54 thereon for slidably receiving a latch member 56 therein. The latch member 56 projects radially outwardly through an undercut notch 58 in the face plate 14 and terminates in a laterally offset handle 60' which' projects outwardly therefromfor access whereby the latch member 56 may moved upwardly and downwardly by exerting finger pressure on the handle 60. Adjacent the upper end of the latch member or plate 56 is an inwardly struck lug 62 receiving one hooked end of a small tension coil spring 64. The other end of the tension coil spring is connected to the inner of the radially aligned loops 54 thus urging the latch member '56 inwardly towards the cylindrical portion 26 of. the shaft 22. Thecylim Q drical portion 26 of the shaft 22 is provided with a pair of inwardly extending notches 66 for receiving the lower end portion 26 of the shaft 22 is provided with a pair of inwardly extending notches 66 for receiving the lower end of thelatch 56 whereby the shaft 22 will be retained in one of its two longitudinal positions by virtue of the spring 64 urging the latch member 56 downwardly into the notches 66.

A radially extending flat spring 63 is rigidly connected to the mounting plate 50 by a rivet 7% with the inner end of the flat leaf spring 68 being arcuately curved as designated by numeral 72 generally conforming to the curvature of the cylindrical portion 26 of the shaft 22 with the inner end of the spring 68 being received between two semicircular projections 74 on the cylindrical portion 26 of the shaft 24 whereby the leaf spring 6% will urge the shaft 22 longitudinally to a normal position to be described hereinafter.

The cylindrical projection 46 on the knob 44 is secured to a tubular sleeve 76 by a set screw 78. The tubular sleeve 76 projects inwardly of the face plate 12 and is provided with a peripheral flange 80 engaging the inner surface thereof thus rotatably maintaining the outside knob 44 in position on the face plate 14. The interior of the sleeve 76 is provided with inwardly extending teeth 32 for engagement with a radially extending tooth or projection 84 on the cylindrical portion 26 of the shaft 22. When the tooth 84 is in engagement with any one of the teeth 32, the outside knob may be rotated thus causing rotation of the cylindrical portion 26 and the shaft 22 thus operating the latch 26 in the usual manner.

When a person enters a room and exerts pulling pressure on the inside knob 31), the door 16 will be closed and the shaft 22 will then be moved longitudinally inwardly with the fiat leaf spring 68 being flexed laterally so that the latch 56 will automatically drop into the outermost notch 66 due to the force of the spring 64 urging the latch 56 inwardly. The longitudinal movement of the shaft 22 will disengage the tooth 84 from the teeth 82 thus permitting rotation of the outside knob 44 without affecting and without operating the door latch actuating shaft 22. When the person inside of the room is ready to exit, it is only necessary for the inside knob 3i to be twisted in the usual manner which will cause the actuating shaft 22 to be rotated for retracting the door latch 20 in the usual manner. This action will also cause the bottom of the outer notch 66 to urge the latch 56 upwardly by virtue of the carnming action on the edges of the notches 66 and the resiliency of the spring 63 urging the shaft 22 inwardly for misalignment of the notches 66 in relation to the latch 56. in the event of an emergency or in the event of necessity, a person outside of the. door 16 may release the lock by lifting up on the handle 60 thus withdrawing the latch 56 and permitting the shaft 22 to move longitudinally outwardly for re-engaging the tooth 84 with the teeth 82. Thus, there is provided a door lock which is automaticallylocked when a person enters the room and pulls on the inside knob and is automatically unlocked by the same person twisting the inside knob and which is permitted to be opened from the outside by withdrawing a manual latch. It is pointed out that only the outside notch 66 is employed in this arrangement, but when the arrangement is such that the inside knob 30' is pushed inwardly when closing the door 16, the inner notch 66 will be employed in exactly the same manner with the adjustment between the washer 40, face plate 12 and projection 38 permitting the desired scope of movement of the shaft 22 for automatically locking and unlocking the door.

Referring now specifically to Figure 5, it is pointed out that a stationary contact 90 is provided on the mounting plate 50 in such a manner to be insulated therefrom and a movable contact 92 is supported from the latch plate 56' in such a manner to be insulated therefrom and the contacts 90 and 92 are connected to electrical conductors 94 and 96, respectively, which are in an electric circuit for operating an exhaust fan (not shown) such as would be employed in a rest room for creating a circulation of air therein immediately upon closure of the door 16'. This feature may be employed conveniently in rest rooms in public buildings, in kitchens and in various other orientations and may be employed for .turning on other utilities such as additional lights or the like which need not be on continuously thus saving electrical energy and wear on the particular utility.

Referring now specifically to Figures 6-9 of the drawings, the door lock of this form of the invention is generally designated by the numeral 100. In this form of the invention, the inside knob 102 is identical to the inside knob 30 in Figure 1, and is attached to the shaft 104 in the same manner. The face plate 106 is substantially the same as the face plate 12 except that it has an inwardly extending flange 108 closely receiving the shaft 104. The shaft 104 includes a square portion 110 and a short cylindrical portion 112 which extends only slightly beyond the mounting plate 114 which is the same as the mounting plate 50 in Figure l. The facing plate 116 is the same as face plate 14 and the latch mechanism generally designated by numeral 118 is identical to the latch mechanism employed in Figure 1.

The outside knob is designated by numeral 120 and is generally the same in construction as in Figure 1 and includes an inwardly extending cylindrical projection 122.

The shaft 104 is provided with an inwardly extending notch 122 in the cylindrical portion forreceiving the inner end of the latch mechanism 118. The cylindrical portion 112 of the shaft 104 is provided with a longitudinally elongated rod 124 of reduced cross sectional area which extends completely into the interior of the outside knob 129. A cylindrical and substantially solid spindle 126 rotatably receives the rod 124 and is secured to the projection 122' by set screw 128. One end of the spindle 126 is provided with a peripheral flange 130 which engages the inner surface of the face plate 116 thus rotatably locking the outside knob 120 to the face plate 116.

The juncture between the cylindrical portion 112 and the rod 124 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending teeth 132 thereon. Each end of the cylindrical spindle 126 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending teeth 134 for intermeshing engagement with the teeth 132 and teeth 136 on a reversible adapter 138 secured to the end of the rod 124 by a fastening device such as a cotter key 140. A washer 142 and a compres-- sion coil spring 144 are disposed between the end of the spindle 126 and the adapter 138 thus permitting resilient movement of the shaft 104 longitudinally thus permitting disengagement of the teeth 134- on the end of the spindle 126 adjacent the flange 130 from the teeth 132 and permitting engagement of the latch mechanism 118 with the notch 122 thus rendering the outside knob 129 inoperative since it may freely rotate without operating the shaft 104. For unlocking this arrangement, it is only necessary to rotate knob 102 in the same manner as the inside knob 30 was rotated in Figure 1 or release the latch mechanism 118.

Figure 7 illustrates the invention installed for operation when the inside knob is pushed inwardly for closing and locking the door where the construction has been re-orientated so that the washer '142 is disposed against the juncture between the square portion 110 and cylindrical portion 112 of the shaft 104 with the spring 144 being disposed between the washer and the inner surface of the mounting plate 114. The adapter 138 has been reversed with the teeth 136 facing inwardly for engagement with the teeth 134 on the outer end of the spindle 126 for normal operation of the shaft 104. When inward force is exerted on the shaft 164 by inward force being exerted on the inside handle 102, the spring 144 will be compressed thus disengaging the teeth 136 from the teeth 134 on the outer end of the spindle 126 thus permitting the latch mechanism 118 to drop into the notch 122 thus disconnecting the outside knob 120 from the shaft 104 and rendering the outside knob inoperafive. The outside knob may again be rendered operative by twisting the inside knob in the usual manner or by releasing the latch mechanism 118 as previously described.

It is pointed out that the contacts illustrated in Figure 5 may also be connected to the construction of Figures 6-9 and it is also pointed out that the mechanism shown in Figures 1-4 may be operated with the pressure being exerted inwardly or outwardly on the inside knob for automatically locking the door when entering an enclosure and automatically unlocking by simply twisting the inside knob.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a door lock mechanism, the combination of a longitudinally slidable latch operating shaft extending through a closure door, an inside door knob rigid with the inner end of the shaft and movable in respect to the door, an outside knob rotatably mounted on the door and .rotatably and slidably receiving the outer end of said shaft, and means interconnecting the outside knob with the outer end of the shaft whereby the shaft will be rotated when either knob is rotated, said interconnecting means being disengaged in response to closing force being exerted on the inside knob which causes longitudinal movement of the shaft thereby rendering the outside knob ineifective for rotating the shaft, spring means connected with said shaft for urging said shaft to a normal position with the interconnecting means being engaged, latch means adjacent the outside knob, means resiliently urging said latch means into engagement with the shaft for retaining the shaft in position with the interconnecting means disengaged, said latch means being manually releasable from the outside of the door and means on said shaft operatively connected to said latch means releasing the latter in response to rotation of the inside knob whereby the spring means will move the shaft to normal position with the interconnecting means being engaged.

2. In a door lock mechanism, the combination of a longitudinally slidable latch operating shaft extending through a closure door, an inside door knob rigid with the inner end of the shaft and movable in respect to the door, an outside knob rotatably mounted on the door and rotatably and slidably receiving the outer end of said shaft, and means interconnecting the outside knob with the outer end of the shaft whereby the shaft will be rotated when either knob is rotated, said interconnecting means being disengaged in response to closing force being exerted on the inside knob which causes longitudinal movement of the shaft thereby rendering the outside knob inefliective for rotating the shaft, spring means connected with said shaft for urging said shaft to a normal position with the interconnecting means being engaged, latch means adjacent the outside knob for engagement with the shaft for retaining the shaft in position with the interconnecting means disengaged, said latch means being manually releasable from the outside of the door and releasable in response to rotation of the inside knob, whereby the spring means will move the shaft to normal position with the interconnecting means being engaged, said shaft including a notch therein, said latch means including aspring urged latch plate movable laterally in relation to the shaft for engagement with the notch, said notch being normally misaligned with the latch plate whereby longitudinal movement of the shaft will align the latch plate with the notch for locking the shaft in position for retaining the outside knob ineffective for rotating the shaft, said notch extending over a minor portion of the periphery of the shaft whereby rotation of the inside knob and shaft will force the latch plate out of the notch whereby the spring means will urge the shaft longitudinally to a normal position.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said interconnecting means includes a cylindrical sleeve on the outside knob, a plurality of inwardly extending teeth on said sleeve, said outer end of the shaft having at least one radial projection thereon for engagement with the teeth, said teeth and projection having a longitudinal length less than the longitudinal movement of the shaft.

4. The combination of claim 1, wherein said interconnecting means includes a spindle mounted on said outside knob, said spindle having longitudinally extend ing teeth thereon, said shaft having longitudinally extending teeth rigid therewith for interlocking engagement with the spindle, the longitudinal length of the teeth being less than the longitudinal movement of said shaft.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said latch plate is provided with an electric contact movable therewith for engagement with a stationary electric contact sup ported from the door when the latch plate engages the notch thereby simultaneously locking the door and closing an electric circuit.

6. In a door lock mechanism, the combination of a rotatable and longitudinally movable latch operating shaft extending through a closure door, an inside door knob rigid with the inner end of said shaft for rotating said shaft and providing a means whereby the latter may be moved longitudinally to a locked position, a freely rotatably supported outer door knob, said shaft being longitudinally movable between a normal unlocked position and a locked position in respect to said outer knob, means normally disengageably interconnecting the outer knob and said shaft for rotation of the shaft in response to the rotation of either knob when the shaft is moved longitudinally to the normal position, said interconnecting means being disengaged and rendered ineffective upon the longitudinal movement of said shaft to the locked position, spring means urging the shaft to a normal position with the interconnecting means being effective for rotation of the shaft in response to rotation of either knob, said inside knob and shaft being movable longitudinally in response to exertion of closing force on the inner knob, spring urged latch means engaging the shaft and retaining the shaft in position with the interconnecting means rendered ineffective upon the longitudinal movement of said shaft to the locked position, means on said shaft engageable with said latch means releasing said shaft for movement to normal position in response to rotation of the inner knob and shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 563,960 Hawes et al. July 14, 1896 804,399 Hardenbergh Nov. 14, 1905 1,387,888 Holt Aug. 16, 1921 1,968,285 Egan July 31, 1924 2,497,329 Smith et al Feb. 14, 1950 2,634,598 Kaiser Apr. 14, 1953 

